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Published: November 13th 2013
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Day 2 we wake at 5:15 and walk to the restaurant for coffee. By six we were on the trail and exploring. An immature giraffe stood sentinel as we slowly drove by. There are herds grazing in the field; a couple of giraffe browsed the trees on the hill and it was like peaceable kingdom. We are heading to the river for a short cruise but stop to watch a herd of rhino head across the road to a preferred grazing spot. They are huge animals. You can get a sense of their size by looking at one next to a Trail Blazer. Included in the group is the female whose horn had been poached. She seemed to be doing fine. We continue on our quest, fording streams swollen by the rains. This powerful vehicle and it's driver make it look easy. We are ten plus Solly in this open vehicle with no protection from the elements or the animals.
At the river, we board a flat bottomed boat. The river is actually an estuary, the tides coming from the Indian Ocean. The ride was tranquil but not much wildlife to see. A crested eagle soared by but
went over a ridge before I could capture it. A few Impala were on the banks but that was all. We had coffee and muffins, returned to the dock and continued to search out the wildlife. Stopped on the banks of another river to see hippo's. There were not glad to see us, there was a baby, and gave us a warning snort. We heeded the warning and made our way up the bank and back to the bus. From there we headed back to the Lodge for breakfast, some down time, lunch and our evening drive.
We have seen, through the brambles, a lioness eating her kill. Others saw the actual event. In fact there might have been two kills. Our Lioness was eating a bushbuck while the others saw a lioness taking a warthog. BTW, baby warthogs are the cutest ugly babies I have ever seen. We came upon a couple of young male elephants play fighting. They were right next to our vehicle and the sound of their snorting and their tusks colliding made us all glad it was all in play. We come upon another herd of elephant and there are two babies,
one only weeks old. He is so young he does not know how to control his trunk yet and is a hoot to watch. Our sunset stop is interrupted by three rhinos. Evidently we are blocking the way and our guides gathered us all together in between the trucks to present a large presence for the poor sighted rhino. We continued with our wine and snacks till it was almost dark and then returned to the lodge for a barbecue or braii as the locals call it. All the food is tasty and those who wished to could sample a stew of eland. We passed but it was deemed very good by those who tried it. The staff women entertained us with a chanting song accompanied by a drum and dancing. These big women can sure shake their booty. The was a bonfire going and it was lovely evening. Walking back to the chalet it was difficult to watch my step as I was so distracted by the night sky. The stars are so bright and dense that it brings back the wonder of the universe.
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